Brought to you by YA Highway: (oh, and um, I *tried* to just focus on published books, but since there are a few manuscripts out there which are my new favorites, I had to sneak them in)
BOOKS
- Most imaginative: How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
- Funniest: My Horizontal Life by Chelsea Handler
- Scariest: The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
- Edgiest contemporary: Cracked Up To Be and Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers
- Creepiest SF/dystopia: The Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
- Most evocative historical: The Gemma Doyle Series by Libba Bray (A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels, and The Sweet Far Thing)
- Best love story: Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta and Shiver by Melina Marchetta
SCENES
- Scariest: The Forest of Hands and Teeth (the ending)
- Funniest: The fart scene in Raymond Mahaney's Wrong Moves by Nikki Loftin (on submission)
- Most disturbing: Beautiful by Amy Reed
- Steamiest: The makeout scene between Jonah and Taylor in Jellicoe Road, all the scenes between Frannie and Luc in Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers (out in 2010!)
- Most exciting: The Breach by Patrick Lee, and The Hunger Games and Catching Fire
- Biggest tear-jerker: I sobbed during Cracked Up To Be, How I Live Now, Jellicoe Road, and The Ice Queen, and poignant scenes in Lovely, Drowning by Kristin Miller (on submission) and All These Lives by Sarah Wylie (on submission) had me sobbing in public
- Best plot twist/revelation (no spoilers!!) : Page 173 of Catching Fire , the end of The Breach
CHARACTERS
- Best couple: Regina and Michael from Some Girls Are, Taylor and Jonah from Jellicoe Road, and Sam and Grace from Shiver
- Who you'd want as your best friend: Bianca from The Duff by Kody Keplinger (out 2010!), Katsa from Graceling by Kristin Cashore
- Who you fell in love with: Brigan from Fire by Kristin Cashore, Travis Chase from The Breach by Patrick Lee, Keith from Cheater Beaters by Jennifer Hoffine (on submission)
- Worst (best?) villain: Kara and Anna from Some Girls Are
- Best character twist (who you loved, then hated, or vice versa): Parker from Cracked Up To Be (I thought I'd hate her, but I loved her)
- Best character names: Brigan from Fire
- Worst character names: Katniss and Peeta from The Hunger Games
- Favorite all-around kickass female: Katsa from Graceling
- Favorite all-around kickass male: Brigan from Fire and Gale from The Hunger Games
MISCELLANEOUS
- Best book cover: Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick and The Hollow by Jessica Verday
- Best title: My Horizontal Life by Chelsea Handler and The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
- Most memorable voice: How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
- Most memorable first line: Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos "My life-my real life-started when a man walked into it, a handsome stranger in a perfectly cut suit, and, yes, I know how that sounds..."
- Best setting: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
- Most beautiful writing: The Gemma Doyle Series by Libba Bray, Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater, and Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
LAST BUT NOT LEAST...
- Will any of the books you've read in 2009 make your life list of Favorite Books? Cracked Up To Be by Courtney Summers, Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater, The Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, Columbine by Dave Cullen, The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman, Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta, How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff, Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card, Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, Graceling and Fire by Kristin Cashore, and Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire
...AND (*THIS IS MY OWN ADDITION*)
- What can't wait for books are you looking forward to in 2010? The Duff by Kody Keplinger, Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers, Linger by Maggie Stiefvater, Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta, and Book 3 of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins